The FF-Files: Der Kommissar

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“He’s got the power and you’re so weak, and your frustration will not let you speak” - After the Fire, “Der Kommissar”

One year ago, when breaking in the revived “FF-Files” series, we presented a series of falsified documents with an article titled of “At Least You Tried.” In that piece, we pointed out a fake document being held by the real promoter of Falco Fighting Championship, in which the editing was so horrendous that it transformed the paper into the shape of a trapezoid. Falco is not a small organization when it comes to staging actual fights – many cards stretch across weekends, with dozens of bouts scheduled inside its typically white and blue-themed cages. Operating primarily out of Kyrgyzstan, with occasional stop-offs in Russia, a few notable names like Vagab Vagabov have competed in its ranks, as well as those notorious to Fight Finder staff like Belek Aliev and Dosbol Elegen.

On that bogus document submission, the submitter had the audacity to try to fake that it was their “official” letter that the founder and head of the organization, Sher Nasirdinov, was holding in his hand. It was, of course, not that paper, much like Chris Hemsworth is not wearing a t-shirt of your band. Nasirdinov remains a widely respected figure in his area of the world for the work he does with Falco FC and beyond, and that has attracted some unwelcome attention along with the positives. Put simply, people pretend to be him in order to get things done, and try to throw their weight around using his authority.

This recent issue encountered by Sherdog Fight Finder staff was not unique, unfortunately, and many have attempted to pass themselves off as figureheads of companies, official matchmakers of various leagues, important parties and even fighters. Back in October, the fun began, when a man claiming to be Nasirdinov wrote in to Fight Finder claiming that a World Fighting Championship Akhmat event was missing a fight and needed to be updated. The information did not check out, and we asked for more evidence, only for the matter to be dropped entirely – that’s never a good sign, when one of our staff makes a simple inquiry only to be greeted by radio silence.

Some two months later, this same character contacts the Fight Finder staff about a different event under the Falco banner, claiming the main event, a title fight, was omitted from its official lineup. This time, the request was legit, vetted and verified, although it made us briefly curious how the headliner was left off the documentation to update the fight card when it came between an undefeated up-and-comer and an MMA debutant. If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk to go with it. If you oblige one small request, the door opens to a veritable deluge of subsequent asks.

Next up was a FFC production that took place in November, with a supposed 16 bouts held on the show. Accompanied with this request was a link to the organization’s Instagram account as well as a two-hour YouTube video that contained exactly seven fights and one forfeit – forfeits, by the way, do not get recorded on Fight Finder. It was not overlooked that this head of the company appeared in the first photograph on the Instagram; however, there were just seven results plus that forfeit, and not the 16 the submitter requested. When pressed, the response was, “please watch the video carefully” as well as a link to the same Instagram post that said only seven fights happened. He followed up by saying, “I will send you the second part of the video soon.” A few months later, we’re still waiting, chief.

“Good Afternoon! One fight was skipped to my tournament,” the submitter wrote in an email at the beginning of February, completely abandoning ship at his past failed request and soldiering on as if he had not been caught in an outright fabrication. At first, he stated the fight came at a May 2019 event. After being questioned about the video’s publication, and an accompanying caption of the bout writing it happening in June, suddenly it was a mistake, oopsy-daisy. The single fight missing on a tournament was actually part of a card that had not yet been registered, and it was one of six. Our suspicion grew rapidly, what with clear documentation on the organization’s Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages.

“I made a mistake and immediately corrected myself,” he cried. “I ask forgiveness. I have 2 tournaments a month…I’m trying to work and add everything. I’m in a hurry somewhere. There is no help from anyone. I do everything myself.”

There’s always one watershed moment in these breakdowns, when things suddenly take a turn for the worst. The cracks began to show, adding up gradually among simple, odd language choices like calling a fight card “their tournament” instead of “my tournament,” or committing easily avoided mistakes. We are aware that not every organization will hold the infrastructure to adequately prepare documentation, but if this was indeed the head of Kyrgyzstan’s premier fight league, the answers he provides should match those of the actual public offerings of the promotion, as well as the posts on his own personal Instagram.

As the pieces came together, it became quite evident that this person was not in fact the man he claimed to be. Often times, a name or two kept cropping up in the submissions, be it a young prospect from Uzbekistan or one of the usual suspects highlighted above. The “glass shattering” moment came courtesy of his most recent request, where he claimed he held a tournament that contained exactly two professional MMA fights. The problem was, he had already sent in this specific fight and said it took place at some other event. The other issue was far more glaring: this event did not just hold two fights. By our count, at least 20 matches went down that weekend. How did we unearth this gem of information? By the organization’s actual YouTube channel, showing clearly marked videos of each individual fight, of course!

At some point, the hammer has to fall. Strike three was likely reached long ago, but sometimes the staff prefers to give the benefit of the doubt in case anything may be lost in translation. Our team did some digging, determining the actual head of the league’s email address, and it was not the one sending in this information. We had not been bamboozled; he did not pull fast ones on us. Instead of playing a game or setting a trap, we were direct. Either we made the mother of all mistakes calling out der kommissar of Falco like that, or some unscrupulous manager has some serious explaining to do. It’s unlikely we will ever hear from him again.

If you do not pretend to be the head of a fight organization, we would happy to receive your Fight Finder-related inquiries; please send them to fightfinder@sherdog.com. Don’t forget to read the guide.